Article October 14, 1911 Issue

FROM OUR EXCHANGES

with contributions from G. F. B. Hallock, Paul Sperry, Richard Braunstein

[Rev. G. F. B. Hallock, D.D., New York Observer.]

That face looks good to us through which genuine goodness looks at us. The real looking of a face is not from what is on it of color or form, but from what is behind it, looking out of it. If good is behind a face, it is good looking. Good looking out makes good looking at. Isaiah bore witness to this by the opposite when he said of the evil dwellers in Jerusalem that "the show of their countenance doth witness against them." We talk about "speaking countenances," and well we, for faces have a voice and influence that words can never have. The eyes, the brow, the lines of the whole visage, speak out as the tongue can never speak. The face is not merely physical; it changes inevitably as the inner man changes. Hard thoughts, evil desires, selfish ambitions, show through the countenance, as in no other way. And the influence of these inner thoughts and purposes of ours is felt by those who merely look at us. It is not enough that we should have a care about words and deeds as influencing others. The very countenance itself, lighted from within, should speak forth a clean, wholesome message to all who look us in the eyes. Well does Dr. W. C. Gannett say: "Splendor within is the only thing which makes real and lasting splendor without. Be beautiful, and you will by and by seem so. Carve the face from within, not dress it from without. Within lies the robing-room, the sculptor's workshop. For whoever would be fairer, illumination must begin in the soul—the face catches the glow only from that side. It is the Spirit's beauty that makes the best face, even for the evening company ; and the Spirit's beauty is the only beauty that outlasts the work and wear and pain of life."

[Rev. Paul Sperry in New Church Messenger.]

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